Thursday, September 27, 2007

Being in the fashion industry, I am often asked why the sizing of women's clothing varies so much. Why it's not more standard like men's.

I checked out some books from the library for work on how to grade patterns. Grading patterns is how you take a pattern that is one size and either increase or decrease it to the next size. Since I am responsible for the fit of our sizes, I want to get it as right as possible.

Well, anyway, in reading one of the books, it talked about how sizing came about & I found it interesting so I thought I would share in case you might be interested.

Women's clothing was originally based on your bust measurement, like it is in Europe. When clothing was first manufactured in America it followed this system, so if your bust measured 36", you wore a size 36. Then in the 1920's, there was a need for a younger looking garment, which was called "Missy" and adopted the 10-20 size range to differentiate itself from the women's sizes.

A California retailer of better apparel decided to change the labels on their clothes to one size larger around this time. So a size 16 was labelled a size 14. When women were asked what size they wore, the reply became "a 16 in a cheaper dress, but only a size 14 in a 'better' dress."

And this has continued to today where a size 8 has about the same measurements as a size 16 did when the size range was first introduced.

What I found the most interesting is how long ago this trend of up sizing started. Listening to the media, you would think that it was a more recent trend. But really is has been going on for almost 90 years.

So yesterday I got the best massage ever. My chiropractor recommended I get massage therapy to see if loosening the insane knot in my right shoulder would reduce the pain when I look over my right shoulder.

I was a little nervous going into it because I have always heard that massage therapy is nothing like the "spa massages" I've had. Supposedly theraputic does not equal relaxing especially if it a really deep tissue massage. But this was better than any one I've ever had.

The massage therapist happened to be blind which may have helped, I don't know. But she knew exactly how much pressure to use; never once did I wince in pain. (And she did use quite a bit of pressure.) And I was completely relaxed when she was done. This morning I felt fine when I woke up, no muscle pain. And since I drank water like a fish yesterday, I didn't even have a headache or feel sick from all of the toxins. Oh and I can look over my shoulder with only a little pain now.

It was amazing to say the least. And the other amazing part. It only cost me $20. Yes, $20 for a full hour. My "alternative" health insurance covers 50% for 10 visits a year to a out of network provider. (I love my job!) Even when all of my insurance is used up, it's only $40. Which is SO worth it. I get to go back Monday for another hour long massage. Ahhh...

Monday, September 24, 2007

So my husband made it 143 days without having to visit an ER!!! For him this is a good streak. We visit the ER every 3 or 4 months or so. His last visit was in May for a vasal reaction.

Well last night we paid the Porter ER a visit. After eating a few ginger snaps for dessert, Ben's tongue started to itch, then his throat started to itch. Thinking it was allergic reaction, but not a big deal, we went to King Soopers to buy some Benadryl. As we are leaving the grocery store, he gets really dizzy & disoriented. He ends up sitting on the curb waiting while I go and pull the car up. By the time we get him in the car, he is starting to have a hard time swallowing & breathing.

They pumped him full of Benadryl, Pepcid & prednisone along with 2 liters of fluids to stop the reaction. The dr said the back of his throat was swelling & we would have ended up at the ER last night no matter what. And after 5 hours we were finally allowed to go home.

He is feeling better today, just tired. And he has to take the prednisone for 3 more days while his body finishes processing whatever he is allergic to. Now to figure out exactly what he is allergic to so we can avoid this in the future...

I have asked him if we can try & go at least 6 months this time without having to visit the ER. I know it's going to be hard since he loves the ER so much, but 3 visits in one year already seems like enough, don't you think?

Thursday, September 13, 2007

So I went to Ben's chiropractor on Tuesday because my shoulder has been bothering me for a few weeks. I have been talking about going ever since I started my new job. I have alternative health insurance (in addition to regular) that covers chiro work, acupunture & massage. Ben finally made me an appointment after listening to me talk about it doing if for almost 2 months.

On Tuesday, the chiro looked at my back & took some x-rays. Yesterday I went back to find out what the diagnosis was & get my first adjustment. I found out that I am competely out of whack. I have what is called "military neck". My neck is perfectly straight but should be curved like a banana. And my spine is twisted to the right at about my shoulder blades. And my right hip is twisted forward. Basically when I am laying on my stomach my right leg doesn't lay as flat as the left one. Ben could even see it.

So I am officially out of whack. But luckily it is all fixable. And it should help relax the muscles in my back so I don't feel quite so tense all the time. I had my 1st adjustment yesterday. It is a very weird sensation. It doesn't exactly hurt but is not the most comfortable thing in the world either. He pushes & twists with a good amount of pressure. My shoulder felt better as soon as he was done. And my leg laid flat too.

I used to not believe in chiropractic work because of all the bad stories you hear, but I am now a believer. After what it has done for Ben in a matter of a few months & what it did for me after 1 treatment. I look forward to seeing how I feel in a couple of months when I am all back to normal.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Sammy is our new puppy. She is a 3 month old Border Collie mix that we adopted from the Boulder Humane Society over the weekend. We were not intending on getting such a young dog, but the other dog we looked at did not get along well with Lily so we ended up with a puppy. Lily & Sammy get along great. They chase after each other in the back yard. And Sammy follows Lily around wherever she goes. The cats ignore her for the most part & she hasn't completely figured them out yet.

Lily spoiled us because she was already pretty much house broken when we adopted her (thanks to the foster family she was with until she was old enough to be adopted), but Sammy needs a little more work. When she has to go, she will just go but it won't take too long to train her to go outside.

Here's another cute picture. So far we only have 2 pictures of her since she moves fast & doesn't sit still for long.